We live in Britain's Airbnb havens, but we're fighting back: How residents of idyllic seaside towns are taking a stand against surge in holiday lets and second homes by raising council tax and refusing to sell to outsiders

Residents living in seaside tourist hotspots are taking a stand against second homeowners and holiday lets by refusing to sell them houses and tripling council tax.

One of these is the cosy little market town of Narberth which lies in one of the most popular tourist spots in Wales - Pembrokeshire, which is full of rolling hills and has over 50 beaches.

It's a short 25 minute drive to Tenby, the postcard tourist trap where rents have soared and locals have been forced out by the overwhelming surge of hotels, Airbnbs and second home owners.

The problem has become so bad, Pembrokeshire County Council operates a 100 per cent council tax premium for second homes and is considering doubling this - effectively triple the standard rate.

And it's not the only one, with locals in Yorkshire, Devon and Kent calling for their councils to follow suit and do more to tackle the summer tide of holidaymakers which leave their towns 'dark and depressing' in winter.

Welsh town refuses to sell houses to outsiders 

In Narberth, locals are trying to stop tourists from pushing them out of their town with one developer refusing to sell homes to outsiders. 

The brand-new brightly coloured homes in Moorfield Court have been built behind the site of an old Victorian building that used to be a primary school which fell into disrepair.

The building itself was transformed and now operates as Hwb, a food hall with four kitchens and a craft beer bar.

One of the school's former pupils, Charles Salmon, 67, is behind the housing development and he is keen to use the plot for the benefit of the tight-knit local community.

He is putting in safeguards to stop the eight houses he's built from being sold to outsiders as second homes and the 'unique' housing scheme is backed by locals fed up with properties snapped up by wealthy holidaymakers.

The prices range from £299,500 to £320,000, and there will be an open day this weekend.

Mr Salmon, who was brought up in the town, said: 'There will be a vetting arrangement - I'm trying to keep it for locals.

'They may have to sign something to say they are genuinely local people and the houses won't be used as holiday lets.'

Father-of-three Mr Salmon, whose father was mayor of Narberth, said: 'The old school had fallen into disrepair, it was a disgrace at the gateway to the town.

'We've created something unique, the houses are colourful and will be ideal for over-55s because they can walk into town.'

Most locals and holidaymakers have welcomed the scheme and applauded the businessmen for standing up to wealthy outsiders coming to West Wales to buy property. 

Kathryn James, 58, who runs a cafe in the new development, said: 'No Airbnbs and second homes, that's fine with me.

'Young people struggle around here but these places are for over 55s so I don't know how much of a difference it will make. But we need tourists, definitely.'

Mother-of-three Kathryn Walker, 32, a teaching assistant in Narberth Primary School, said: 'It's good that they aren't going to be holiday homes but I know they aren't a reasonable price range for first time buyers.

'But it won't drive tourists away. It will keep the locals happy and they look very nice.'

Chef Ben Lucas, 35, a £30,000-a-year chef in the Hwb street food centre on the site, said: 'It's getting impossible for someone like me to buy your own place.

'I agree with the housing scheme here - tourists are welcome but local people should come first.'

Holidaymaker Ceryse Fear, 69, a retired social enterprise charity worker, from Ealing, London, said: 'I absolutely support it - I'm from England but I think it's outrageous that English people are buying houses here.

'It's scandalous that there isn't legislation stopping selfish people from away using their wealth to buy up property in Wales.'

Estate agents John Francis, who are holding an open day for would-be buyers on Saturday, say there has been a lot of interest.

Ali Palmer, the agency's senior negotiator, said: 'Two local businessmen have regenerated an historic part of the town - I'm a big fan of that.'

North Yorkshire doubles council tax on second homes as locals pushed out of town

In the seaside town of Whitby - where a ruined Gothic abbey inspired Dracula -  council bosses have agreed to effectively double council tax bills for second homeowners.

They will be receiving the stinging bills on April 1 next year, because of the rules requiring a 12-month period of notice before the charges are applied.

But locals are sceptical that the council tax hikes will make any difference - and some argue opposing tourism is not the way forward because it is so profitable.

And some said the town is 'dark and depressing' in the winter when all of the holidaymakers have gone and most of the houses lie empty.

Arcade worker Edward Harrison, 31, said: 'The town would not survive without tourism. The winters here are dreadful.

'But as a local I also know it is virtually impossible to buy a house. It costs well over £200,000 for a two bedroom house that is surrounded by other houses.

'I am saving currently for a home and it is hard work - very hard. It takes most of your wages and you have no time for a social life so it's hard.

'You find yourself working hard but without saving you are never going to get anywhere on the property ladder.

'I am 32 this year and desperate to get on the property ladder. But you are competing with second home owners and Airbnb businesses which have plenty of money in the bank.

'Every time there is a house on the market going at a decent price, someone snaps it up for a holiday let or second home.'

Dave Smith, 33, said: 'I can't complain because if it was not for tourism I wouldn't be in a job. The other side of it is that is hard to buy a house. But you cannot buy a house if you haven't got a job, and there are not a lot of them in Whitby which are not tourist based.

'So getting rid of second home owners and people staying in Airbnbs would not necessarily ensure you have somewhere to live.'

Dave Clarkson, 59, doesn't think doubling the council tax for second home owners will work. She said: 'If you can afford to pay £400,000 for some of the cottages around here you are not going to bothered by a couple of thousand in council tax.

'It is a shame because a lot of local people can't afford to move. A couple of long term lets behind me have just become holiday cottages.

'It so dark and depressing in winter because the people with holiday homes or the Airbnb customers only come once or twice.

'They are snapping up the old cottages for the price a new-build and all they want to do is rent them out. People used to like coming to summer because it was quiet, not mental like it is now.'

Local businessman Alex Boyd's family has run the Mister Chips takeaway brand in the seaside town for the past 40 years. He also recently opened a sweet shop by revamping one of the town's older and unloved buildings.

He said: 'You do get a lot of the locals who gather in the locals-only pubs to complain about the tourists but most of them work in tourism anyway.

'Businesses need tourism to survive. So people who think Whitby doesn't need tourists are just stupid.

'Houses are expensive here - but they are expensive because Whitby is a nice place, not just because of holiday lets and second home buyers.

'If someone is coming to town with £300,000 to buy a house to rent out or as a second home at the end of the day they have the money to do it and I don't see how you can stop them.'

Steve Warriner, 52, who has been running the Harbour Grill for four years, said: 'Second home owners are bringing wealth into the town, Without them I wouldn't have a job.

'A lot of young people in Whitby are short of affordable homes. I don't think there should be restrictions.

'These people are bringing business into the town. But if I was 22 with a young family looking for home I would not be thinking how massive tourism is for the tea rooms.'

Villagers in Devon campaign for more affordable homes 

Families living in popular seaside resorts say they are being forced into hardship and living in caravans, holiday chalets and even boats following a dramatic surge in Airbnbs and holiday lets. 

Faced with shocking rises in short-term lets, locals on the North Devon coast are banding together to organise Community Land Trusts (CLT) which enable them to build affordable homes but said more help is needed and called for councils to limit the number of holiday homes.

Emma Hookway, founded the North Devon and Torridge Housing Crisis campaign group after she and her young son were forced to leave their rented house in 2021.

Emma, 44, from Braunton, said: ‘I explained the situation to my son that after Covid lots of people had moved to the area and lots of people wanted to come on holiday then after he walked away I just burst into tears.

‘It’s completely changed the dynamics of renting in North Devon. We started looking for a property but just couldn’t find anywhere. I wasn’t even getting a look-in on places that were coming up. Landlords are asking you to prove earnings of £33,000, an average joe on minimum wage can’t do that. 

‘Explaining it was the first time it really dawned on me. I felt like I’d failed as a parent. It’s horrible to have your home whipped away from underneath your feet.'

She said: ‘There’s absolutely a hidden crisis here. We’ve had people on the page talking about suicide because they can’t find anywhere to live.

‘One of the key things that worries me is children’s mental health, children having to study for GCSEs when they are all crammed in one room or can’t have friends over because the temporary accommodation doesn’t allow guests.’

She called for affordable house-building to be dramatically increased to meet demand and new holiday homes to require licences.

In the centre of Woolacombe, a coastal resort since the Victorian era, it was once dominated by grand hotels and villas but in recent years modern blocks of flats have risen up in the town. Figures show around half of houses in the area are second homes.

A two bed flat boasting a sea view goes for almost £1,500 per week while a one-bed flat in a modern block goes for £139 per night.

And there are more on the way. In a prominent spot overlooking the village sits the now derelict Royal Hotel which is set to be demolished to build 56 flats and eight houses.

Steve Woodman, a lifelong Woolacombe resident, has run the Londis newsagent for the past 25-years.

He is leading a local initiative to provide 21 new affordable homes for families who have lived in and around Woolacombe for at least five years.

He told MailOnline: ‘Woolacombe has just got busier and busier but you can very clearly see how things have changed. There used to be four banks, now there are none. We are now the only convenience shop.

'Some people are angry at the rise in Airbnbs and I see where they are coming from but tourism is also vital to the area.

‘The village needs a year-round economy and we hope these 21 houses will give local people a foothold in the community.'

At the Woolacombe Surf Centre, manager Zoe Powell, 38, emphasised the village wasn’t in any way against tourists visiting but said the current situation had made it impossible for her family to live there.

She said: ‘We were renting a small flat in the village with my two children - it was far too small for us all.

‘When we were able to get a mortgage we looked in Woolacombe but there was nothing we could afford so we ended up buying in Ilfracombe.

‘I think there is a frustration with the situation and I know a lot of the Airbnbs are left empty because the prices are so high.

‘Some of them need to go back to being staff accommodation or affordable housing for first time buyers.

'In Cornwall they are taking steps to make it harder for second homes, the last thing we want to do is lose tourists but we need to make sure we have places to live too.’ 

Cas Lay, 20, grew up in the area and works in a seasonal job at nearby Saunton, he is now standing for the Green Party at next month’s election.

He said: ‘I can’t see any other future down here other than being in a car in my dad’s driveway. That’s the only thing that’s viable, not being able to rent anywhere down here.

‘I don’t think I could tell you one person my age who owns a home down here, most live with their parents. I have friends who have gone to Australia because they don’t see any future here.’

In nearby Croyde, local residents say the village has changed beyond all recognition in recent years.

Anne Bright who has lived in the village for 12 years said: ‘It’s just so different, it used to be a little old surfing village with people turning up in VW campers.

‘Now it’s everybody arriving from London in BMWs and Range Rovers and having huge great houses by the sea.

‘Most of the new places are built by commercial developers who sell them as holiday homes or investments to turn into Airbnbs.

‘The most affected people are the younger generation who can’t afford to buy anything in the area. They either have to move away or wait to inherit from their parents. There’s just no way for them to stay here.’

However, local landlords say they are turning to holiday lets because of the bureaucracy involved with longer tenancies.

Paul Watts, who has let out an annexe to his home to holidaymakers since 2009, said: ‘There is absolutely no incentive for us to let out on a residential basis due to the changes already made, let alone the potential to prevent landlords selling their property at the end of a tenancy agreement.

‘So many residential landlords are turning to holiday lets as a result and swamping the market.

‘The rental market is a dreadful place to find yourself in as a tenant these days. Successive governments have failed the UK rental market since Right to Buy was introduced and sold off most of the council housing, with no replacement strategy.’

More Airbnbs than permanent homes in Kent

Locals in east Kent tourist hotspot Margate are divided on whether similar measures to stem the influx of outsiders are needed in the town.

The thriving town has seen an artsy regeneration in the last 10 years - with scores of young people trading sky-high London rents for the seaside. But it has 443 Airbnbs compared to just 44 places to permanently live.

While business owners said that without the tourist industry, the 'town will die,' other residents said that people who have lived there all their lives can't afford to stay and agree more needs to be done.

Set designer Emily Henson, 48, was a Margate resident in the 1980s as a child before moving out in 1992. Despite saying she never saw herself coming back, she returned six years ago.

She said: 'It's so seasonal. If you've got places that are purpose-built or just as holiday rentals then for a huge part of the year they're going to be sitting empty.'

Her friend Hesta Vanoverbeek, also 48, has lived across the idyllic Kent seaside for over a decade and now resides in Margate with her dog Kermit.

She said: 'I think there's some countries they have rules where you're only allowed to rent out your houses for a certain amount of time here.

'You need something so that you don't have purpose-built second homes and Airbnbs, because otherwise you end up with towns in Cornwall and Devon that are empty during the week.'

But Margate-born Steve Riley, 59, disagreed - saying tourist money has revitalised the town and that is partly down to Airbnbs. He said: 'You will have people coming in off the trains with a wheelie bags going into Airbnbs and they bring money into the town. There are not enough hotels.

'You need people to spend the money otherwise the town will die. I am really against any controls on them.'

However NHS nurse Lesley McAteer, 59, welcomed the idea of controls to help young people buy established properties rather than having to buy new-builds.

She said that a move against holiday lets could help people to get on the property ladder without what she sees as overdevelopment in Thanet.

The health worker said: 'Young people can't buy a property because there's limited properties in Margate.

'I wouldn't probably mind if people bought a second property and came down every weekend but the properties are empty a lot of the time.

'And that means youngsters can't get in the property market. Because there's no properties around to buy.'

However, business owners in the tourist hotspot said they loved the influx of holiday lets because of the money they bring in.

Chip shop proprietor Peter Curtis, 53, agreed. He runs the family business, Peter's Fish & Chip Factory, following on from his father. He said: 'Controls like that on Airbnbs wouldn't be good for us.

'The beauty of Airbnb is tourists come down in all weathers. So people are in London seeing it is an unexpectedly sunny day and they come down, but they also still come if it is rainy.

'It's a good thing. Why would they try and change it?'